*09.25.10 - Great news - "Here Come The Wild Waves", the long-in-the-works album from Magical Beautiful, is being mastered tomorrow! It is 40 minutes long, and aside from the break between sides A and B, there is only one other gap in programing material. The songs are:

A1. Swimming Into Heaven
A2. Purest Place
A3. Silverado
A4. In This Fake Light
A5. Ghetto Tourist
A6. I Hear A New World
B1. On The Shore Today
B2. Flaming Home
B3. White Whale Song
B4. Wild Waves

As soon as it is mastered, you will find mp3 selections here, at I Hear A New World, on our myspace and facebook pages and on various blog-type things.

In other news, check out what Magical Beautiful sounds and looks like live, in this crazily pro video from Giant System:

Magical Beautiful - wings in the sky from Giant System on Vimeo.

This was recorded in our practice space. Kyle Obriot and associates took care of the video and we did the audio recording and mixing.

Stay tuned for the new jams!

*06.26.10 - Comin' to you live from the Shape Shoppe with Nick Broste at the boards, we're mixing the album. Have some shows coming up towards the end of the summer, so keep your eyes and ears open.

*04.07.10 - Fancy new media player. Welcome to 2010!

This text will be replaced by the flash music player.

Tour starts in a week! We will be playing a 30-40 minute set of rad jams and then backing up Casiotone For The Painfully Alone for another hour or so. The Magical Beautiful lineup is as follows:

Nick Broste - organs, trombone, etc.
Tyson Torstensen - voice, electric piano, MPC1000, etc.
Charlie Vinz - electric bass, baritone guitar, electric guitar, voice, etc.
Alance Ward - drumset, melodica, etc.

    The lineup for Casiotone will be:

Owen Ashworth - voice, keyboards
Nick Broste - trombone
Nick Tamburro (the Dead Science) - drumset
Tyson Torstensen - electric piano, nord electro, guitars
Charlie Vinz - electric bass, baritone guitar, electric guitar, voice
Alance Ward - trumpet, percussion

It will be awesome!

*03.26.10 - "Not Building A Wall But Making A Brick is now available for free download and as a high quality stream from Candy Dinner. Previously only available on cassette, these recordings have been remastered for digital release.
*03.15.10 - Website news: new photos up here. New, very basic music page here.
*02.22.10 - Press/venues/etc. - if you're looking for bio information, click here.
      Couple items: Magical Beautiful is going on a 3 week-tour as opening and backing band for Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. We are not yet at liberty to disclose the details, but if you check here, you will soon enough find the dates.

      "Not Building A Wall But Making A Brick", a 43-minute compilation of various, mostly-improvised material from the past three years, came out on cassette in December of 2009. We will have more copies available on the upcoming tour, and it will be released digitally (and free) on Candy Dinner in late March.
*11.15.09 - Happy Fall, everyone. It's pretty autumnul in Chicago right now; perfect weather for finishing records and starting new Winter projects.

Magical Beautiful recently completed its most active month of local show-playing, performing with some rad bands like Jon Maus; Anti-Pop Consortium; Antimagic; Still Flyin'; The Gaze & Axis:Sova. The majority of the comments received pointed out that we had grown into a real, tight band, which is a relief and a thrill after a couple years of self-imposed lineup instability.

This killer lineup (Torstensen/Broste/Vinz/Ward) reconvenes once more in 2009 on December 6 for a headlining spot at the Empty Bottle with the fantastic Implodes & Above/Below Sea Level opening. We will be playing a longer set this night, and also giving away 25 copies of a new mixtape featuring rough mixes from the forthcoming "Here Come The Wild Waves" full length as well as group improvs; side projects; a Christmas cover; remixes; etc. Again, this cassette release will be free and only available to those that attend this $3 concert.

Work is going very well, but continues to be slower than we'd like on "Here Come The Wild Waves". I work very meticulously and have found that progress absolutely cannot be made if I am not in the right, elusive state of mind. It will be released, though, and I promise it will not be the over-worked mess that so many multi-year musical projects end up being; the album will maintain the warped haziness for which Magical Beautiful is known.

Otherwise, I (Tyson Torstensen) played my first solo show as NIGHT TERROR in Grand Rapids, MI with Antimagic. This is a two-synth & sampler project that is much darker than Magical Beautiful. Expect more shows and releases in 2010. Alance has begun work on his second album (first one still available at I Hear A New World). Nick just recorded his Nick Broste Trio album, has been finishing up the fourth album from the almighty Herculaneum & continues to do engineering/production/mix work at the Shape Shoppe & Strobe. For fairly-priced recording work, contact him at nbroste(AT)yahoo.com. Charlie continues to do all the crazy extra-curricular educational & cultural work which he always does.

When the Magical Beautiful record comes out, we will be touring the United States and elsewhere. Until then, peace.
- Tyson

*08.28.09 - Just finished tracking "silverado" and "purest place" at the Shape Shoppe in the Bronzeville/Chinatown/South Loop? neighborhood of Chicago, and the songs sound illll. Still plenty of editing and overdubs to be done, but "here come the wild waves" is finally within reach, over two years after it was conceived. Couple shows coming up - stay tuned.

*08.22.09 - "Magical, Beautiful" shall henceforth be referred to as "Magical Beautiful". That's right - no more comma. This was suggested by our own Nick Broste, and I couldn't find any argument to keep the punctuation. Show List editors of the world rejoice!

*07.08.09 - This is a new website. It was previously hosted at ihearanewworld.com, (which is still active, but will now focus on the record label rather than the record label/Magical Beautiful). Both websites will get cooler and cooler with time, like so many Arthur Russel's.

        Work continues on album number two, which has the working title of "Here Come The Wild Waves". There are several as-yet-untitled pieces on it, as well as songs like: "Purest Place"; "Silverado"; "Wild Waves"; and "Flaming Home (Elverum)". It will exist on several formats, one of which will be 12" vinyl, a first for MB.

        I recently spent a wonderful 6 weeks in Europe/UK/Scandanavia with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone and Concern. Some of the 1300 pictures I took can be seen here. Otherwise, there are a couple of free shows coming up in Chicago, some new releases on I Hear A New World and a West Coast tour in December/January. Peace! 07.01.09 - Working on MagicalBeautiful.com. Ihearanewworld.com will focus on the record label while MagicalBeautiful.com will just be about Magical, Beautiful the band. It's simple, you know?
..........In the meantime, check out M,B in Chicago later this month. Check the shows page. Alance Movell CDr coming very soon. Magical, Beautiful LP coming later.

02.10.09 - Hello, hello, hello, hello. Mr. Thurston here. Welcome to the February, 2009 Magical, Beautiful newsletter, brought to you by I Hear A New World Records, Tapes & CDRs.

Many strange and wondrous things have occurred over this particularly cold, Midwestern and isolated winter. Chicago is more frozen than ever, and much of the sound emanating from Hear A New World Studios has held onto that chill. However thick the ice forms around the edges of our production hall, the heart remains warm & full, like a pregnant bear restlessly waking through hibernation; excited & hungry for the future family.

First, time-sensitive matters: Magical, Beautiful is playing a free concert with Golden Birthday at Sonotheque in Chicago on Tuesday, February 17. The show is presented by Obey Your Brain. New material will be debuted. Also this month: Alance and I will be playing in the Casiotone For The Painfully Alone band at Subterranean (Chicago) on Friday, February 27. More on this later in the newsletter.

2008 saw a much clearer public distillation of the Magical, Beautiful modus operandi in the form of "Right Rock", the "Nearer My God In Spring" mix CD and a short live tour of the NorthEastern United States. Privately, recorded works have taken various shape: extended, electronic drones; feedback-laced group improvisations; German-cum-Pakistani trance jams. How these works will be released remains to be seen, but count on the following:

One (1) full-length Magical, Beautiful record comprised of 3-4 long-form original compositions, 1-2 cover songs and several instrumental buffers. This is the main project, and several people have contributed to it thus far, including, but not limited to Alance Ward, Nick Broste, Colby Starck, Christopher Keener and Charlie Vinz. This will be released as a double LP/download.

One electronic full-length record based off the "Music For Painting" CDr (IHANW*A) and a very recent, epic Thurston/Broste/Ward session from the Shape Shoppe. Sound samples coming soon.

Several limited releases tying up the I Hear A New World loose ends: noises, drones, dubs, beats, audio documentaries, etc.

Fanzine/Compilation CDr chronicling the struggles of many musicians and artists suffering writers block and self-destructive urges and how they triumph over it. Contact ihearanewworld@gmail.com if you're interested in contributing.

That should be it as far as releases are concerned. Live concerts in different configurations are to be expected. New technologies to be debuted. New public identities for affiliated projects to be unleashed.

In addition, I'll be back on the road with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, first to South By Southwest in mid-March as a duo, and then in Europe/UK as a four-piece from early April to mid-May. I'll be playing baritone guitar and keyboards, while Nick Tamburo (from the Dead Science) will be drumming, Gordon Ashworth (from Concern & Oscillating Innards) will be on keyboards & Owen Ashworth will sing and play keyboards. We'll be touring in support of the fifth, (and in my opinion, best) Casiotone record: "Vs Children". I'm hoping to book a couple of solo Magical, Beautiful shows at the end of the Europe thing. If you're interested in helping out, contact ihearanewworld@gmail.com.

As for internet related works, I'm considering starting up an online bootleg label where I'll post mp3's of various live/field/interview recordings. This will most likely start after that European tour, with the first "release" a collage documenting the sounds of the trip. Also, as far as the I Hear A New World blog - I'm not sure how active I'll be on there. The lack of writing is not due to lack of inspiration - there are lots and lots of aborted posts - it's just that as soon as I start writing I realize that I have many other, more important pursuits to follow and that I'm not going to give my writing subjects the deep attention they command. Most people that write these days don't spend more time thinking about what they're saying than it takes to write it, and the last thing I want to do is further that horribleness.

That's it, I think. ****BONUS SPUR OF THE MOMENT DECISION: The limited double EP version of Right Rock is currently available in hard copy (with hand-made artwork) for FREE if you send $2 shipping and handling via paypal to ihearanewworld@gmail.com. The "Godspeed You Black President" 7" is not going to happen %u2013 I couldn't get appropriate material together.

Winter listening material: I Shalt Become; Burzum; Graveland; Carcass; Cathedral; Windy & Carl; Grouper; the War On Drugs; 70's Bob Dylan; Keith Hudson; OMD; Willie Nelson; Oscillating Innards; Joy Division; J Dilla; Mahjonng; Mount Eerie; Paavoharju; Roots Manuva; Wolves In The Throne Room; Animal Collective; "Nebraska"; Broadcast.

11.29.08 - For your winter enjoyment: a tape-warmed version of Vince Guaraldi's "Christmastime Is Here". Listen or download here. Recorded on a recent, chilly night with Alance Ward on drums & T Thurston on piano, melodica & electric bass. If you're unfamiliar with the origins of the song, watch this. Its my hopes that this song will help keep us from getting depressed & scared like Charlie Brown over the holidays.
11.20.08 - Uploaded a compressed zip folder of IHANW#07 (Nearer My God In Spring mix) for free download at ihearanewworld.com/mp3/NearerMyGodInSpring.zip. It contains high quality MP3s (192kbps) of the entire album, plus relevant art and text files. If you download it and want to burn it to CD, make sure that your software is set to burn with no pauses between tracks. Spread it along; enjoy winter (Northern Hemisphere) & summer (Southern) with sweaty jungle tunes.
   &nbps;Check journal for a long account of our recent Fall tour. Set aside a good chunk of time; it's long. This winter is spent recording...look out for a T Thurston Electronics show or two, but don't expect any live-ness from Magical, Beautiful until February.

10.27.08 - Hey hey, my my: we're back. Extensive tour journal coming soon! We have copies of IHANW#05.5 (RIGHT ROCK limited edition doubleCD) left over for you to check out! Click here to find out more about this very special release. We have t-shirts, too! Come back soon to buy one or two.
10.08.08 - Witness the first MAGICAL, BEAUTIFUL music video!:

10.02.08 _ Tour is pretty much booked. Check it out. We'll be a three piece and it'll sound way different than we've been sounding lately. Limited edition records and t-shirts will be available. Added a "press" page. The Finnish band Circle rules.
09.12.08 - Check shows page for tour info! Still need some help in Philly, DC, Providence, Boston or surrounding areas! If you can help, email ihearanewworld(at)gmail .com.
      Added a "members" page, which is nestled within the "about" page. Added an offsite journal where I write about music and maybe other things.
08.12.08 - Even more videos! Go here. Currently tightening up a tour of NYC/Philly/DC/Baltimore for October 13-21. This will be a three-piece tour with minimal gear, and we'll be traveling using only public transportation. Get into it. If you want to help put on a show or play a show in those areas during that time, email ihearanewworld(AT)gmail.com. We will have new recordings (very possibly a 12") and t-shirts for these shows, as well as the upcoming local show with my old bros the Donkeys. The website is going through a complete facelift as I work my way through Dreamweaver. Also, added a journal/blog thing for writing not exclusively related to Magical, Beautiful or I Hear A New World. Tsch�ssi! - T
07.28.08 - Added two new live videos on the "Sounds & Video" page. Check the difference between '07 & '08.
07.11.08 - Travel rundown:::: Argentina = A.O.K. Nebraska = stoic, Midwestern. California = scared, gorgeous.
       "Wings in the Sky" now available for listening pleasure at myspace. It's a banger, so don't listen on un-bangin system. The RIGHT ROCK EP from which it stems is available on real CDs and digitally from emusic, itunes & amazon. Playing with Haunted Graffiti (Ariel Pink's killer band) & Chairlift in a couple weeks. First five-piece M,B lineup, I think: TT; Charlie Vinz; Alance Ward; Nick Broste; Christopher Keener. New jams. Crazy lightning in Chicago. Crazy fires in California.
04.18.08 - The "right rock" single is now available for order here. Also available for download at eMusic, iTunes & aMazon.
03.26.08 - Hoist up the John B sail! New song performed and mixed by Magical, Beautiful and mastered by Blue Hawaii of the Icy Demons. Click here to download "Right Rock" from the 3-song Right Rock b/w Wings In The Sky single. This is I Hear A New World #5, available Saturday at the Empty Bottle and for order and in local stores shortly thereafter.
02.29.08 - Chicago show with Black Moth Super Rainbow next month. Lineup = T. Thur/Charles Vinz/Christopher Keener. It looks like we'll have a new single there, but unfortunately not the new album. If you care to see Magical, Beautiful's organ & trombone player Nick Broste playing with Wilco on Saturday Night Live, watch it tomorrow (March First), because that's when you can see that. Don't forget to download "winterlude, winterlude."
01.29.08 - Magical, Beautiful's "winterlude, winterlude" mix is now available for free high-quality mp3 download here. Pass it along.
01.19.08 - We were contacted by someone whom had purchased a BLANK Magical, Beautiful CD at the show on Thursday. If this has happened to you, click here for info on what you should do.
01.03.08 - 1. There is a new, rough mix of a song that will appear on some sort of release in 2008 posted on myspace.com/magicalbeautiful. It will only be up for a little while in celebration of this very cold new year. I recommend you download it to your computer so that you don't have to listen to it on myspace's media player. It is a synthesizer improvisation featuring overdubs from Nick Broste on trombone & Charlie Vinz on lap steel.
     Magical, Beautiful is playing an all ages show on Jan 17 at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone & Pal. It starts in the evening. We will be playing new material, and as always, the old material will sound quite a bit different than before.
     I have finished a new live mixed CD entitled "winterlude, winterlude." It was made as a holiday gift for friends, but we will also be giving away free copies to fans at the previously mentioned show. It features some stuff from the forthcoming Magical, Beautiful record as well as songs performed by DAF, Bob Dylan, Cybotron, Lavender Diamond, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Growing, Fats Waller and many more. It is the best mix I've yet made.
11.19.07 - A new Magical, Beautiful album is currently being made. The first song was completed today. It's called Right Rock, and is the first recorded Magical, Beautiful track to feature more than one performer.
    This new album does not look to include any of the songs that we have been performing for the past year and a half; that record will be mostly live and will come later. The songs on which I'm working have been written backwards, starting with long improvisations I've recorded over the last few years and ending with a vocal melody, words and chords. This first song ended up breaking 50 recorded tracks; the rest should be simpler. This album will be pressed on real CDs, packaged in Arigato Paks from Stumptown and available from I Hear A New World in Jan/Feb 2008.
10.16.07 - Thank you AV-aerie audience for helping to make last Sunday the best Magical, Beautiful show yet. Finally a lineup for the times: T. Thurston/C. Vinz/N. Broste/S. Coffin.
      No shows scheduled for the time being - recording a ton of stuff. Have enough material for several releases. I feel that this will be a productive winter for all of us.
09.28.07 - I hit my head very had on my refrigerator a couple hours ago. I was looking for peanut butter, and when I found it, I got a little overly excited and 'BOOM', there goes my head. I hit it often - I'm tall and have no real concept of the space my body is occupying, but this was an exceptionally hard hit. Now I'm trying to stay awake so that I don't slip into a concussion-related coma like that kid in Robert Altman's Short Cuts.
Other stupid things I often do (and did tonight) - lock my keys in my car and not recognize someone I should recognize. The keys thing is ridiculous - I've locked them in the ignition at least 15 times in the last six months. Inconvenient and embarassing, yes, but the name/face recognition thing is worse. What sort of an asshole doesn't remember the people with whom they've spent good, quality time? The sort of asshole that is always hitting his head on inanimate objects and often locks his keys in his car. To you - you people that say "hi" or hold out an outstretched arm to me and are met with befuddlement - I apologize in advance and retrograde style.
Killer lineup and new song arrangements for October 14 - a hazy shade of Fall with Charles Vinz! on drums/banjo/etc.; Sara Coffin on drums and Nick Broste on trombone/organ/etc. Like usually, if you've seen Magical, Beautiful before, there's not much reason to think it will be the same the next time.
08.31.07 - What To Wear During An Orange Alert has posted a timely Magical, Beautiful interview here.
08.29.07 - I forgot to give a couple people their free copy of "summers are better than others" at the Abbey Pub the other night, so if you're one of those people, email me at ihearanewworld@gmail.com and I'll get you one. Chicago show in October with Phosphorescent.
08.16.07 - We will be giving away free copies of "summers are better than others" (read below) to the first 10 people that ask for them at this Saturday's concert at the Abbey Pub (click here for details and tickets).
07.27.07 - Magical, Beautiful presents: "Summers Are Better Than Others" available now. To learn more about this beguiling addition to the I Hear A New World stable, CLICK HERE.
    That's not all, though! Added a remixed version of my cover of Will Oldham's "I Send My Love To You" on the 'sounds' page. The original cover version appears on 2006's "magical, beautiful", and Will's lovely version appears on "days in the wake". Also, replaced the mp3 of track 1 from "obscure love" with track 2, so check that out.
07.09.07 - Bobby Teenager here, remembering the line for Batman: The Ride at Magic Mountain in, ohhhh, 1992. So much excitement: Was this turnabout the last before the end of the line, or would we round the corner only to be confronted with more turnabouts? What is it going to feel like to have my feet suspended as I go UPSIDEDOWN? Is that the real Batmobile off to the left? How can I actually be about to go on this ride? The craziest part is that Batman: The Ride delivered! In fact, it was even better than I had expected.
     There's a parralel, here, of course. What is a perfect album, or show, or song, but a line full of hope and turnabouts? Is it something you'll remember 15 years ago as you kiss your girlfriend goodnight? Is this music as good as you want it to be? Emil told me M,B's music was like a rollercoaster, (or maybe he said carnival - his English was uncertain), and I can only hope for T.'s sake that it was a rollercoaster as perfect as Batman: The Ride. - Bobby Teenager. Santa Ana, CA.
     I have been liking Neil Young - "zuma"; Ellen Alien - "thrills"; Depeche Mode - "some great reward"; Disco Inferno - "D.I. go pop"; Ministry - "with sympathy"; "The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser" made me feel so much (after you watch it, read about Bruno S.); The For Carnation - anything; being on stage with Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - live @ Millenium Park (this show has hooked me up with weeks of good vibes); Fiery Furnaces - "bitter tea"; ESG - comp on Soul Jazz; my haunted Ensoniq ESQ1.
06.26.07 - I've completed a mix of (mostly) other peoples' music called "Summers Are Better Than Others". It will be out in July and limited to 50 copies (to avoid copyright issues). More info soon.
     Solo show in Los Angeles, CA in Mid July. Full-band show (with some new faces) in Chicago in Mid August.
     After two years of fun, eating and prog-rocking, I've tendered my resignation or whatever in Head Of Femur in order to focus on teaching and Magical, Beautiful. However, I will still be playing all dates with the band until after CMJ 2007.
     Check out this clip of Magical, Beautiful playing Joe Meek's "I Hear A New World" in Chicago in April:



05.22.07 - Out of town for a little while with the Head Of Femur. Maybe Magical, Beautiful will be playing a show in Lincoln on Sunday night, though? Don't know if I'll have the means to list it on here if we do, but I bet you can figure out where it is and all that if you ask around. Maybe playing a few songs to open the Head Of Femur shows, too.
The show at the Lakeshore Theater on June 1st will be fun. It is just two days off from the first anniversary of Magical, Beautiful's debut show, which featured three rhythm-ists, so to celebrate, Colby Starck, Gary James, Rene Jermal and Matt Focht will be acting as the rhythm section. (Mike Elsener will be in the Smokey Mountains). The Lakeshore features comfortable seats for you, the audience, and all ages are welcome. Like I said, it will be fun.
*****How much do I let someone like you know about someone like me? I don't have much of an answer for that, but lately I've been insterested in Pulp's "we love life" (2001); Harry Nillson/John Lennon's "pussy cats" (1974); Holger Czukay's "movies" (1979); Devendra Banhart's "ni�o rojo" (2004); Low "drums and guns" (2007); The Congos "heart of the congos" (1977); David Vandervelde "the moonstation house band" (2007); Pink Floyd "animals" (1977); Todd Rundgren "todd" (1974); The Rapture "mirror" (1999); Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan "the ultimate (78-84); Woody Guthrie "songs to grow on for mother and child" (1956).
#########Recording on the new EP will continue for the remainder of the summer. Magical, Beautiful was awarded a grant from Chicago Artist's Assistance Program which will help in the completion of it. So far it seems like it's going to sound much different than myself or anyone else could have ever anticipated.
05.04.07 - Check the shows page. Recording has begun on the newest EP.
04.05.07 - We are excited to announce the release of the second Magical, Beautiful record. It is entitled "obscure love" and contains 5 solo keyboard improvisations in 29 minutes. It is limited to 75 copies and features handsome, hand-made packaging. It can be purchased for $7 on the label page for $7 (ppd), or as part of a special limited-time package with the first Magical, Beautiful record for $12 (ppd) for both. One song from the record can be downloaded for free (in mp3 form) on the sounds page.
     Check show page frequently. Only one confirmed now, but there are 4 others in the works. Mike P. Elsener will be joining on drums for some songs. Added some high resolution photos for press types.
03.04.07 - Lots of recording and writing occuring. Show on the 26th in Chicago w/ two intensely great live bands: The Dead Science & The Parenthetical Girls. There should be at least one/maybe two new Magical, Beautiful releases available at this show.
01.23.07 - Hey hey my my - public relations will never die. Check the "about" page for the new bio and handmade one-sheet for Magical, Beautiful.
01.19.07 - Another Ronny's show next month with Ad Astera Per Aspra & A Tundra. Hear A New World Studios has new equipment which will make the next record (a 6-song EP) sound more fidelitous.
___________________I am looking for Magical, Beautiful to be a real band. Members must be passionate, intuitive and dynamic players but don't necessarily need to be awesome at their instruments. 2-4 people. Drummer, bass and/or guitar, organ/piano/synth, singer/percussion (lead or backing). Male or female. Old or young. All my musician friends are so busy, but for this band all you need to know is how the songs go - if we play together well then a lot of practice will not be necessary. Songs will probably not sound the same from one show to the next. Does this all make sense? Please tell me so @ ihearanewworld@gmail.com.
01.04.07 - The Famous Basement Show in Lincoln was a hit. Last-minute Chicago show with Casiotone For The Painfully Alone on Jan 10. Details on "show" page. Playing guitar & piano & singing some new songs.
12.17.06 - I'm going back to California for a little bit, then driving to Utah for a littler bit, then driving back to Chicago with a stop in Lincoln. Magical, Beautiful will perform at one or two house parties in California (Eagle Rock, maybe Long Beach?), one house party in Provo, Utah & one in Lincoln, Nebraska. If you live near these towns and would like to go, email me (ihearanewworld@gmail.com) for the exact locations of the houses.
       I've written several new songs since I finished the album, and they sound pretty sweet. I plan on recording them in January at a REAL STUDIO, with REAL OTHER PEOPLE. I have not given up home recording by any means, I just want to see what some collaboration will yield. By the way, if you want that first album, I made some more, so send $6 to: ------------------------------------.
11.04.06 - Seven of twelve songs from the first Magical,Beautiful album are now up on the "sounds" page in mid-quality mp3 form. Don't know how long I'll keep it up, so get it while you can. If you like it, come to a show some time.
    Other minor changes made to site.

11.03.06 - I'm having a difficult time wrapping up my time in Europe in any sort of appropriate or concise way. For the first few weeks that I was there, I kept a detailed daily journal for publishing here so friends and family could read, but I abandoned that because it felt like I was blogging, and the last thing I want to do is blog. Just today I used this architectural firm's time to do short summaries of every single day, but after getting about two weeks in, I went to lunch, and when I came back it had dissapeared from the computer, or maybe I forgot to save it in the first place. Friends ask me, "How was Europe?" and I say, "It was really, really, really, super amazing," because it was. I feel fortunate, humble & inspired by the two months I spent there.
      The Magical, Beautiful album was finished a couple of days before I left. I only had room for 50 physical copies in my luggage, and ran out of them pretty quickly. I am extremely pleased with the way the layout has turned out. It took a lot of time to put together each booklet, (couldn't have done it without Kristen R.), and I believe that the album is a lot less w/o the packaging. I hope you enjoy the mp3's, but if you are anything like me, you'll be missing a lot without the whole package.
      I think next will be a Magical, Beautiful cassingle of two improvisations called "Grandmother/Grandfather". This will be limited to around 50 because it is very personal and I don't know how many people will be interested in it. In late December/early January I will be doing a solo tour from California out to Chicago playing house shows. If you live between those two areas and would like Magical, Beautiful to play, let me know.
      As far as other I Hear A New World releases go, I am anxious to make available a cassette of Donkeys 4-track recordings (if they ever send it to me); a Northwest doubleEP CDR/cassette; and improv stuff from the Desert Turtles & Sutherland. Oh wait, also I want to do a Magical, Beautiful 7" of these really poppy songs I need to get the fuck out of my system.
      I took some pretty pictures on tour that I'll upload soon. Turns out there's a lot of beauty in Europe. 08.29.06 - Well, huck-a-tuck, I just got back from Lincoln, NE and it was super fun! Magical, Beautiful played a mostly solo set @ this nice gentleman John's sweet backyard w/ my good friends The Chancellor & In The Arms Of Annalee. The stage was an army barracks & there was lightning going off overhead. Bugs were biting & drinks were drunk. The next night, Head Of Femur played my favorite set I've ever played w/ them & a mystery girl placed a turqoise bracelt on my piano. The mystery is killing me.
------ Good news for listeners - a new song has been uploaded! It's an unmastered version of "Horsebreaker", which is the first song on the second side of the forthcoming self-titled album. Patrick Pritchett is currently mastering it, and if you're in Europe for the next couple months, you can pick up a copy at any Casiotone For The Painfully Alone/Dead Science show over there. If you're in the United States, you're going to have to wait until November to get a copy.

08.20.06 - I am pleased to be domestically unavailable for the next couple months - 11 days in Berlin with my friend Rene and then 5 weeks in all of the Europes with my friend Owen & the Dead Science playing Casiotone For The Painfully Alone songs. It is going to be a rushed rush, but I hope to have a special edition of 50 Magical, Beautiful albums with me that people can buy along with Casiotone stuff.
-------After that, I'll come back and finish up the Magical, Beautiful improv cassingle and then in January, I'd like to do a small Magical, Beautiful tour of the West Coast. The Head Of Femur album "great plains" will hopefully be out shortly thereafter, at which point I will resume touring with them.
08.09.06 - It's unfortunately time to say goodbye to my geniunely amazing friend Megan Seeley, for whom China will become home. On Saturday, I'll be playing some stuff in the backyard of our compound around 9 or so to help say goodbye and I hope she likes it. I don't know what it will be and maybe some people will join in(?), but some other people are going to play, too. This one is for friends!
--For more worldwide news, I finished recording the first Magical, Beautiful record a few hours ago. Now it's time to mix. Will definetely be out by the end of August. If am going to put up something for pre-orders in the next couple of days; not because there's a million people that want it, but because I don't have any money and getting something in to help pay for the blank cassettes and the printing and all that stuff will help a lot.
08.04.06 - Goodbye from the planet, Arthur Lee. Put on a Love record this weekend. It's perfect summer music, anyway....
-I offer my sincerest apologies to anyone that showed up for the Magical, Beautiful show on Wednesday. I got there and the managers did not want me to play. Once I saw the setup of the place, I didn't argue much. I tried to call everyone I knew that was coming, but I know some people showed up in the rain, and I hope that I can make it up to them at some point with music or a drink or something.
07.26.06 - Working on album a lot. Almost done. More sounds coming soon. Magical, Beautiful show at People Lounge has been moved (again) to Wednesday, Aug 2. Magical, Beautiful orange hollow-body guitar (unhappily) on sale @ http://chicago.craigslist.org/msg/186957012.html.
07.04.06 - Added some older songs in mp3 format. Click "sounds" below.
06.26.06 - I will be backing my roomate Matt Focht on piano at a couple of shows in Chicago later this summer. Check the shows page for those dates.
06.17.06 - Big Horse = fun. Thank you friends. Thank you Trout, Mike & Rene for percussive talent.
---Right now I'm trying to finish up my first Magical, Beautiful album that I'll release on cassette on I Hear A New World. Head Of Femur is trying to finish up their third album called "Great Plains" to be released on vinyl & compact disc by someone, hopefully. I play piano, organ, clavinet, synth, guitar, glockenspiel & percussion on the album & helped write the song "Covered Wagons". I recorded some live improv stuff w/ B. Lesueur as Sutherland on 6/6/6 @ the Pegasus in Orange, County that will come out on CDR on I Hear A New World, perhaps w/ a sort-of Sutherland "best-of" thing. Don Sutherland, formerly known as Karl Malone: A Tribute To "Weird" Al Yankovic, is a psychedellic band in California that I've been doing with Bryan Lesueur & Dallas Gaines for a couple years. Magical, Beautiful will be playing a free 3-hour show at a kinda nice place on Milwaukee Ave in Chicago on July 21st.
05.25.06 - Saturday, 06.03.06 is the debutante's ball for Magical, Beautiful - T. Thurston on "piano"/voice/delay playing mostly sexual songs written by himself from '04-'06 others written by B. Springsteen in '83 & B. Gudmunsdottir/T. Knak in '01. Trout & M. Elsener on drums; R. Jermal on foot percussion.

It's @ Big Horse Lounge
1558 N Milwaukee . Chicago, IL
$5
21
Show starts around 09PM
Magical, Beautiful at 11PM
I don't know anything about the other bands, but you can get tacos & beer & stuff.

Magical, Beautiful's debut album will be out in the next month or so on cassette with silk-screened & hand-sewn covers. It's been in the recording process for eight months. Recorded in the basement of the Femur house by T. Thurston on RolandVS1680 & broken cassette 4-track. Also, possibly coming soon: Magical, Beautiful "live in California" solo piano cassette & 2 EP's from Northwest (a gnarly band in which I play guitar) on one cassette. Released on "Here, A New World Records & Tapes."

p.s. Head Of Femur BBQ @ the Hideout on June 24. All day BBQ, music, readings & whatnot. Benefit for Make Literary Magazine. $8 gets you show & food!